Category Archives: Photography Guides

Photography is a lifelong learning experience. Even the best of the best will tell you that they still have much to learn. This is, perhaps, doubly so in the digital era where new ideas and techniques are constantly evolving. If you are just starting out in photography, all this information can seem overwhelming. So, today, we are going to take a look at ten everyday, very simple techniques to improve your images.

The seashore. The coastline. The oceanfront. No matter what term one prefers to use, the seas have long been a favorite subject for photographers. The sea, much like the cosmos, represents a mystery as most of us have little firsthand insight as to what goes on beneath the surface. The sea is also a locale marked by ever changing mood and drama; it is, thus, no wonder why photographers are so enraptured by the sea. Photographing seascapes is, of course, comparable to landscape and cityscape photography in its treatment of the subject, but it also shares similarities with event photography or street photography insofar as the need to be patient and observant so that you capture the perfect moment. The following tips will help you with that.

When you first start learning how to pose people for photographs, it’s hard. Hard enough that a lot of cameras are collecting dust right now. In the beginning, learning to pose people either means a lot of awkward failed poses, or a lot of demoralizing memorization that still results in a lot of awkward failed poses. Creating beautiful poses is a skill you have to develop, but maybe more importantly it’s an intuition you have to develop. Now, if you were to spend a year memorizing poses and practicing them everyday, intuition is what you’d probably walk away with. You’d have figured out when it is and isn’t going to work, and the kinds of people it’d work for. But, wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to focus on memorization, and instead could go straight to developing intuition?

Since the beginning of the digital age in photography, stacking images has become much more common than it used to be earlier. But what are the benefits of stacking images? Well, as simple as it may sound, you are able to achieve results you wouldn’t have been able to obtain with a single photo. You can get a cleaner, sharper image and you can compress tones to gain better dynamic range in your photos by stacking. Let’s look at them in detail.

You’ve probably stumbled upon a photo collection from your grandparents, tucked away somewhere, left for ages. Since those photos will probably be older than you are, time and elements probably had taken their toll. However, with the modern technology and the power of Photoshop, most of that damage can be repaired, and some additional enhancement can be done as well. It would be a nice present for a birthday of your grandparents if you had one or two of those images cleaned up, reprinted and framed for them, right? Especially now when that can be done very easily.

In photography, light is everything. However, the most important element thing to remember is the amount of light that should be utilized in creating an image. When it comes to proper exposure it is almost never about as much light as possible, rather it is the precise amount of light that will make the shot properly exposed. So, what do you need to know about it?

Cities are transformed by the cover of night; these labyrinthine centers of concrete, steel and glass seem to magically morph into mazes of colorful light once the sun sets. A photographer doesn’t need to live near mountains or canyons or prairies in order to have access to grand, imposing, natural subjects. Cities, with their bridges, skyscrapers, and highways, provide their own brand of topographical texture. While there are certainly no rules about what time of day you can photograph various city scenes, you might want to be mindful of the role that natural lighting — even just a bit of it — can play in the making of your images. If you are looking to maximize the impact of color and contrast in your cityscapes, consider the following.

From sunrises, sunsets, desert ranges, majestic mountains to fields of flowers, creating beautiful landscape images can be easy at times, and sometimes difficult. There’s a lot to think about when composing beautiful images. Sure, we have to determine our ISO, depth of field and exposure compensation. We also need our tripod, cable release and possibly even a filter or two. Then, we need to get our composition just right. A lot of sky? A hint of sky? Or, no sky at all? Finding and framing up our images is a lot of work creatively and technically. However, there are a few in-camera tools that, with a touch of a few buttons and inspection, will give us more “Yes” versus “Had I only made an adjustment” moments when we get back home.

Once the first flushes of our photographic journey have worn off, a certain laziness can creep in. This can manifest itself in a slight arrogance that we know all we need to know or that we have the required skill to achieve the look that we desire in our shots. Sometimes it can even be a case of photographers’ block, an effect that paralyses our ability to see and shoot good images. Today we are going to look at some ways to shake off laziness and inject some new energy into your photos.

The incredible assortment of buttons on your camera can be intimidating. We’re not talking about just pro level DSLRs, either; even entry level cameras really pack it in when it comes to button array. It can be overwhelming, especially for those just getting started in photography. How do you know, of all the features available on your camera, which ones you should learn first? While some might suggest it’s worth the effort to learn everything your camera is capable of, the more measured approach is to master the essentials first then move on to other features. The importance of being comfortable with your camera cannot be understated; mastering the following DSLR features will help you take control of your camera and, by extension, your creativity.

“There’s a time when people say your work is revolutionary, but you have to keep being revolutionary. I can’t keep shooting pop stars all my life. You have to keep changing, keep pushing yourself, looking for the new, the unusual.”Rankin